Back to the Past
by Brooklyn1918
Summary: Bucky survives the infamous snap, and lives to travel back in time with the avengers. Vowing to protect Steve Rogers, he throws himself into the 70s. But when things go wrong, he is shocked at what he finds he lost.


This story is one of the possible outcomes of if Bucky had survived the Snap. This plays off of the events that happen in Endgame.

Enjoy!

—————————————————————————

Bucky could only watch as his reckless punk of a best friend made the deduction that they would have to go further back in time for another shot at obtaining the tessaract. He exchanged a glance with Scott, face contorting into confusion. Bucky grunted and spoke up before they could leave.

"Steve, I'm going with you. No arguments."

Steve looked at him, you could see it in every line of his face that he thought it was an extremely bad idea. Tony looked at him as well, eyes narrowing. Tony still didn't trust him, although he had come to accept that Bucky had been under mind control when everything happened.

"Buck, if you come with us, chances are they have all heared of the winter soldier." Steve hesitates as he speaks.

"And they won't recognize you?" Bucky says back, Tony nods, one of the only thing the both of them agreed on. Steve gave him a look, one of those looks where the person has their head tilted to the side and an expression that just says "really?" In every way.

"Suit up, lock onto the target." Tony says, trying to break some of the tension between the two friends. Looking down they click on their suits. The nanotech growing over their cloths, conforming to their bodies. Their helmets flip up and over their faces, as they press the button again.

They shrink smaller than atoms, and fly into the quantum realm. The time gps pulling them on course of where they were headed. With a pop, the three of them appear in a large field, surrounded by shoulder length grasses. Directly to their left is a chain link fence, just behind that are rows of military barracks. They have landed in 1970, Camp Lehigh, New Jersey. Steve points up and over the fence, and the other two follow suit. The two super soldiers vaults the fence, where as Tony uses the boot jets to propel himself up and over. Quickly glancing through the window, Bucky opens the glass panes so the three of them can slip in. They take a moment to gain their bearings, finding a military uniform for Steve to fit into, and a business suit for Tony. They quickly change, and depart, leaving Bucky as look out.

In an attempt to get to a better position, he scales into the rafters. The cobwebs catch in his hair as he struggles to swat them away. The door creaks open and Bucky freezes. In strides a young looking recruit, tall and brunette. He flops onto one of the cots below and flips on his back. Bucky should have thought his position through more than he did. In a moment the soldiers face recognizes what is going on, but Bucky is already in action. He jumps from the rafters, and lands, sending dust up from the floor. He dives out the window in the rear and quickly makes it up and over the fence. The alarm shouts over his shoulder and Bucky starts to run. He lets his enhanced legs carry him at the full 50 mph he has the ability to run at. He races through the grass, the grass whipping him as he swats it aside. Hopefully Steve will be able to find him later. The trio promised one another that they wouldn't leave unless they all were peasant at the same time.

He makes it out of the field and to a tree line, where he proceeds to continue on, putting as much distance between him and the base as possible. He makes it out from the other side of the trees and stumbles across an old barn. It's ragged, and looks warm from years out in the elements. The red paint only a memory found in a few loose chips scattered across the sides. Across the way is a farmhouse, worn down as well. Although it only looks old, the house looks to be like it could be nice on the inside. Bucky glances around and slips into the barn. He lets his eyes take a moment to readjust to the dark area. The only light coming in is from a window near the high roof, letting sunshine break through the dust in the air. There are no animals, but there is farm equipment scattered around. There is a loft above him, covered in hay that is protruding in chutes off the edge. The whole barn smells like must and hay. The wind blows outside and the barn creaks. Wait. Was that the barn?

"Turn around and put your hands up." A woman's voice demands behind him. He hears the click of a shotgun being loaded. Bucky is thankful to be wearing a long jacket and gloves at this moment, he hadn't been expecting to run into anyone on this mission. He slowly turns around, brushing the hidden holster in his pocket a he brings his arms up. He's standing face to face with a woman, maybe in her late forties. Her long brown, almost black hair flows down her back, with a small portion banded behind her hard in a bun. Her eyes are a steely blue, with deep blue undertones. She stood slightly shorter than Bucky, but other than that she looked rather like him. Her face softened and she lowered the gun, looking as though she recognized him.

"Bucky?" She asked.

He was taken aback, startled that she knew his name. His eyes widened and his hands dropped the slightest bit as she lowered the gun.

"They told us you were dead! They told us you fell off a train! That they could never find your body." She cries out.

Bucky lowers his arms more, but still doesn't say anything.

"It is you!" She says with a slight crinkle of her nose.

Bucky face softened, he did recognize her, it's his sister Becka.

She runs at him, enveloping him in a hug. Bucky raises his arms stain so she wouldn't feel the cold weight of the metal arm. She grabs his right arm, the flesh arm thankfully, and starts to pull him out of the barn.

"Come on, we gotta go tell ma!" She says, giddy with excitement. He dares not try to resist, with the super soldier serum he would only end up hurting her, so he has no option but to be pulled along and into the farmhouse. They enter through the glass paneled front door. At it opened he could see down the long hall. It was wide enough to accommodate a staircase and still let people walk on the side. To the right was an arch and then a dining room, to the left is an arch and a living room. He was steered into the living room, and forcefully pushed down onto the couch. His sister ran out and up the stairs, calling out for her mother. Bucky stood to leave, not wanting to disturb his family. He passes the mantle of the fireplace, and immediately stops walking. Directly in the middle of the mantle is a framed picture of him in his military uniform. Water marks spread around the base of the frame, products of hours of crying. A vase sits behind the frame, with fresh flowers. The floorboards creak behind him, as he turns to come face to face with a small boy. He had messy brownish blond hair, and was covered in freckles. His mouth was slightly agape, and he was clutching a small stuffed bear. He looked to be about eight years old. His eyes shift from the picture on the mantle to the grumpy looking man in front of him.

Footsteps work their way slowly down the stairs, but pick up pace as they round the corner. Clutching onto his sisters arm is his mother. Much older than the last time he saw her, her white hair was loosely pulled back in a bun. Deep wrinkles extenuated her tired looking face. Her eyes glistened with tears as she looked at Bucky.

"James, come here." His sister says softly.

Bucky looks at her, his sister never called him by his first name. It only takes a moment before the small boy in front of him slowly backs into her arms, never taking his eyes of Bucky. She clutches onto his shoulders as their mother walks forward, taking in every detail of Bucky's tired complexion. The dark circles under his eyes, the scruffy beard. The long hair. She took in the slight bulging of his muscles under his jacket as well. Walking up to him, she envelopes him in her arms, giving him a hug. He has his arms pressed to his sides, he doesn't want to hurt her. Her bracelet hits his left arm, making a small metallic noise. She pushes him back, holding him by the shoulders so she could take him in again.

"It really is you. I knew you were alive." She says as she begins to cry.

"It's good to see you again mom." He says quietly.

His sister walks up next, a smile on her face.

"Why are you wearing a jacket? It's summer!" She unzips it and pulls it off.

Bucky panics and whips around, shielding their eyes from his metal arm as he groped for his jacket back.

"Bucky what's wrong with you?" She teases as she pulls him back around to face them again.

Her face drops with a gasp, both her and their mother take a step back. Their mother covers her mouth with her hand, and steadied herself on her daughters shoulder. Bucky drops his head, his hair falling to the sides of his face, plunging it into shadows.

"Cool!" The little boy, James, shouts.

Bucky looks up as his small nephew rushes up to him and lifts the arm to examine it. He traces the thin gold bands with his small finger. Bucky looks at the small boy, cradling the weapon in his arms, his face mixing into confusion. He looks again to his mom and sister, their faces softening. Becka places a hand on his flesh shoulder, as the boy starts to ask questions.

"How did you get this? Can you feel me poking you? What's it made of? Is there a real arm under this?" His face is alight with wonder. Bucky gives him a small smile.

"I got it from a friend of mine, it replaced an older one I lost. I can in fact feel you poking me. It's made of something called vibranium, and no, there is no real arm under there. It's all robotic." The boy screws up his face.

"How did you loose your other one?"

"I was fighting a man in an iron suit."

He continues to answer questions from his family, but leaves out some of the big details. Like how he was an assassin for a secret nazi organization. He tells them some of the good stuff though. He even gets to ask a few of his own questions. There is a knock on the door, Bucky tenses, and a call is heared from the outside.

"Excuse me, this is the US army, we would like to ask you a few questions."

Bucky stands from his position on the couch, and backs swiftly against the wall. He peeks around the corner at the front door. He can see the shadow of a man in a military uniform standing outside the door. He looks back to his family.

"They're here for me." He tells them quietly. Becka stands.

"Don't say anything James" she tells her son.

He gives a nod, as she opens the door.

"How may I help you sir?" She asks.

"I'm looking for a man, roughly 5'10, long brown hair? He was wearing a jacket?"

"Nope, haven't seen him." She says it to quickly. The man notices.

"Then you won't mind if I come in and take a look." He states as he pushes past her.

He stands with his back to Bucky, looking at his mother and nephew. His hands on his hips.

Bucky acts fast, using his enhanced ability's to his advantage. He has him in a chokehold, his metal arm around his neck. The man turns red, and makes a gurgling noise, trying to pull the metal arm off himself. Bucky steels his facial expression, and drags him to the still open front door. He makes it to the front porch, and throws him off the stoop. Three more officers stand on the lawn. Bucky propels himself off the porch with a single leap, flying over their heads, landing behind them. They turn and fire at him, but he blocks the bullets with his metal arm. He grabs one of them around the jaw with the metal arm, flipping him up and over his shoulder, crashing him into the one that had intruded into the house. His hand flew to the gun hidden in his pocket. He pulls it out and takes aim. He shoots one in the knee, and as he is falling, he lands another shot to his shoulder. The man crumples to the ground, wimpering. As the last officer comes at Bucky, he turns and pistol whips him in the side of the head. A spray of blood comes out of the wound and splatters across Bucky's face. He looks down at the man he shot, and gives him a sharp kick, knocking him out.

Panting he looks back to the house. Standing in horror are the three household members. He takes a step toward them, but automatically sinks to his knees, dropping the gun at his side. He drops his head and lets the sun warm his back, breathing deeply. A hand comes to rest on his shoulder, and he looks up to see his mother's worried face.

"Your not the James I know at all are you." She looks at him gently.

"A lot has changed." He brokenly admits.

A soft whistle makes them look up and into the sky. Rocketing from the direction of the army base is a flying man, painted hot rod red, carrying another man in a military uniform. Bucky stands and uses his metal arm to wave them down. They drop down to the ground, Steve rolling into a standing position. Tony's helmet shrinks down as Becka and little James join them on the lawn. Steve strides to Bucky, doing a double take as he passes the small family.

"Mrs. Barnes? Becka?" He asks.

They nod, astounded. The whole world thought that he was dead. The whole world thought both of them were dead. James comes up to Bucky and tugs on his wrist, making him look down.

"Is that the guy in the iron suit uncle Bucky?" He asks pointing to Tony.

"Yeah kid, that's him." He turns to Steve who mouths the question,"Uncle Bucky?"

Bucky shrugs and watches his nephew walk up to Tony, who looks up at the two soldiers.

"Why did you make Uncle Bucky loose his arm?" He asks.

"Uh, would you take that it was his fault?" Tony says back.

James shakes his head with a scowl and walks back.

"Buck, we gotta go." Steve implores.

Bucky nods as Tong then Steve click the buttons, and their time suits grow around them. Bucky clicks his and his suit materializes as well. He embraces his mother and sister, tears in both of their eyes.

"Your not from this time are you?" His sister asks.

Bucky shakes his head, making him wish all the more that he could stay.

"At least tell us that wherever the two of you are right now you are both alright?" His sister asks again.

Bucky doesn't want to lie to them.

"I wish I could say that and have it be true. But I don't want to lie to you." He then turns to James.

"Take care of them kid. Maybe I'll find you in a few years." He scruffs the kids already messy hair.

The mask clicks on as Steve and Tony dissapear.

"You can't tell anyone about this." He says, watching them nod. He hides the smile behind the helmet, and presses the button, throwing him one more time into the quantum realm.


End file.
